KEVIN Bayingana
Program: Unspecified
Current advisor:
Undergraduate university: Swarthmore College
Research summary
In Dr. Tom Brett’s lab, my research centered on two protein systems implicated in Alzheimer’s disease: TDP-43 and TREM2.
TDP-43 is a transcription factor that misfolds and self-assembles into oligomers in Alzheimer’s disease; however, the structure of these oligomers remains poorly understood due to challenges in producing them in sufficient quantities. In my project, I successfully replicated the oligomerization of TDP-43 (described in previous studies) and generated sizable oligomers—approximately 25 nanometers in diameter—providing a foundation for future structural and biochemical analyses of these oligomers.
In a complementary project, I also examined the interaction between TREM2 and vitamin D3. TREM2 is a receptor on microglia that recognizes amyloid-beta plaques, initiating phagocytosis and clearance of these aggregates in the brain. Prior studies identified vitamin D3 as a potential small molecule that binds to TREM2 at the same site as amyloid-beta, suggesting it could enhance TREM2 function in individuals at risk for Alzheimer’s disease. My work focused on computationally analyzing the interaction between vitamin D3 and TREM2 using Phenix, which allowed me to gain proficiency in molecular modeling tools commonly used in structural biology. I was also trained in biolayer interferometry to experimentally measure binding between vitamin D3 and TREM2 variants.
Graduate publications